


Last Rites

by Calais_Reno



Series: Fin de Siècle [8]
Category: Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms, Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Genre: Financial Arrangements, Letters, Protective Mycroft, Telegrams
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:27:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22051759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calais_Reno/pseuds/Calais_Reno
Summary: This is sort of an appendix to the last part, The Lie. It doesn't advance the plot arc, but provides a bit of behind-the-scenes info on what Mycroft has been up to, in the form of letters and telegrams he wrote before dying. It lays some groundwork for what will follow, but can be entirely skipped over without consequence.
Relationships: Mycroft Holmes & John Watson, Mycroft Holmes & Sherlock Holmes
Series: Fin de Siècle [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1551937
Comments: 4
Kudos: 54





	Last Rites

1891 May 4 [telegram]

Received at Meiringen, Switzerland

To: Lars Sigerson

Message: Trap sprung; limited success. Big rats escaped. Continue as planned.

MH

1891 May 8 [encrypted]

Received at Milan, Italy

Dear Sherlock,

I have made arrangements for Dr Watson to return to London. Having heard the news from Meiringen, I am not filled with hope. Still, knowing you as I do, I have not entirely dismissed the possibility that you have survived and are in hiding. I will wait to hear from you when you arrive in Milan, assuming that you have proceeded as we discussed.

Because my movements are being watched, communication will be difficult. Do not take unnecessary risks.

Mycroft

1892 May 4 [not sent]

My Dear Brother,

Today I find myself missing you. It has now been a year since your encounter with Moriarty at Reichenbach. I spent many months looking for signs of your survival, but was finally forced to conclude that your life was the price of your desperate gamble to stop Moriarty. Though you will never read these words, I pour them out here for my own relief.

You would smile to see me sitting here at my desk, pen in hand. _Writing to a dead man, dear brother? Tut, what sentimental rubbish!_ You were always the sentimental one, though you fiercely denied it. Your doctor brought that out in you.

I know you despised funerals, but one was held for you, even in the absence of any remains to lay to rest. There were only a few of us there— Inspector Lestrade, Mrs Hudson, and Dr Watson, who was too emotional to say much. To her credit, his wife stood beside him, and after the service ended, expressed to me her sadness over your demise. She was grateful to you, she said, and felt no jealousy over your devotion to her husband. You were a great man, she said, and a good one.

Little brother, these days I think often of the boy who used to follow me to the gate as I left for school. You were so eager to be in the world, so impatient to be doing things. I miss your gibes, and I even miss extricating you from trouble. I miss your curiosity, the energy and passion you brought to your work. There are many in England who will remember you. They are the desperate, the unloved, the persecuted, and you were their last resort.

Oh, my dear boy, I will carry on your fight, hoping that others will join me. There are few, alas, brave enough to oppose Moran and his party. For your sake, I will try to keep Dr Watson safe. He is your fiercest and most loyal defender, and is taking the backlash for it.

Your grieving brother,

Mycroft

1893 December

Dear Mrs Watson,

I am writing to let you know of some arrangements that have been made in your behalf.

Prior to his untimely death, my brother Sherlock was helping to provide for you and your daughter. He and your husband had been business partners for years when you married, and he felt that it was only right that a greater part their joint income should support you and any children you might have. That proportion was initially two-thirds, but was increased at his direction to three-quarters after your daughter was born. A portion of this went directly to your household expenses, and the remaining funds were invested, following the advice of my financial advisor. I am the trustee of this fund, and per my brother’s wishes Dr Watson was never informed of this money held in trust.

Sherlock never kept much for himself, reasoning that he had few expenses. He lived frugally and considered that there were better uses for what he did not spend on himself. Instead, he had me invest the surplus for him, and disburse it to whatever causes he felt were deserving. I am proud to say that these causes included many orphans on the streets of London, whom he called his Irregulars, and impoverished families that he had met over the years. He was a generous man, with a heart greater than many knew. On his death, his investments came to me, and I have continued to manage them.

Foreseeing that I will not always be able to oversee these funds or my own, and considering the uncertainty of our present circumstances, I want to make you aware that I am turning over the management of the trust fund to you. It is an amount which, carefully invested, will be sufficient to provide for you and Rose for many years. Dr Watson assures me that you are _clever,_ as he puts it, and intelligent enough to manage this money. I recommend my own financial advisor to you, Thomas L. Quick, whose card I have enclosed. He will look out for your interests, as he has overseen mine for many years.

I am aware that you have now severed ties with Dr Watson, and am sorry for the events that have made this necessary. These are difficult times for us all, and I fear that my own fortunes will not recover. Foreseeing potential trouble, I have used Sherlock’s remaining estate to secure legal representation for your husband, should it be necessary. I hope a trial will not be the result of the current inquiries, but my own wishes have little influence over the difficulties that have descended on England.

I wish you and your daughter good health and fortune.

Yours,

Mycroft Holmes

1895 May

My Dear Dr Watson,

When we last met, you commented that I looked ill. At that time I did not think it would be my final illness, but clearly I was not seeing the writing on the wall. No man really believes his time has come _to shuffle off this mortal coil_ , I think, and I am no different. I have not much longer to _suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,_ however _.*_

My purpose in writing is to put you at ease in regards to your financial affairs. Had my brother not died, he would have been my beneficiary. Having proceeded me in death, he has left what little he had to me. Several years ago, I had urged him to change his will to make you his legatee, but my brother was never a practical man, and at the end was preoccupied with other things. He knew that I would provide for you when he died; this I have attempted to do.

When I die, having no heir, what I own will go into probate and be ground up into a fine powder that will be consumed by taxes and ultimately worth nothing. If I leave it to you, they will use some pretext to seize it, on the grounds that everything you own is a result of my brother’s supposedly criminal activity. Shady accounting, not a claim they can prove, but evidence no longer matters in these days of _sound and fury_.**

I know that you are uncomfortable discussing money, and that you relied on Mrs Watson during your marriage to handle your income, considering yourself inept at this task. My brother once told me that soon after your partnership began, you had him lock up your chequebook so that you would not overspend, as he put it. All men have weaknesses, and he did not think any less of you for yours. I have tried to arrange these matters so as to cause you as little anxiety as possible.

What I have done is as follows. Two years ago, I signed over to your wife a trust fund which was set up when you married. This was intended for the long-term support of her and your child. Mrs Watson is now managing this with the assistance of Mr Quick, whom you have met. I believe it is sufficient to allow her the comfort she looked forward to when she agreed to marry you. With the money Sherlock left to me, I have contracted the services of Crenshaw and Bartlett, Solicitors at Law, who will provide a barrister for your defence. They will negotiate to have some of the charges dropped if you admit to gross indecency, which is what the prosecutor wants, I am told. The fees for their services have been paid in advance. My brother would have wanted this and, regarding you as a brother, I desire it as well. 

Let me be frank. Should this go to trial and you be convicted, they will find means to seize whatever you own. I have advised Mrs Hudson to change her will, which I believe still leaves the building at 221B Baker Street to you and Sherlock.

If you serve time, I urge you to remain strong, knowing that it is an unjust administration that condemns you with cruel laws. You must outlast them, John Watson, and survive for us all. Live your life as a Victory over their Ignorance.

Sherlock loved you, and I am proud to call myself—

Your brother,

Mycroft Holmes

1895 June

My dear Thomas,

I have asked for pen and paper, knowing that the end is near and I will soon be unable to write. You already know my wishes, and I only write now to thank you for all you have done. I have ever known you to be a good and loyal friend.

Please, do not defend my memory. The opinions of small minds do not concern me; nor should they worry you. These days will not last forever. My wish is that you will be there to see the pendulum swing the other direction, and the sheep driving out these wolves. 

I beg you to keep an eye on Dr Watson. Whatever becomes of him, he will need friends. Whatever you can do for him, you do for me, and I am grateful.

Be vigilant, be safe.

Yours,

Mycroft

**Author's Note:**

> *Hamlet, Act III, Sc 1.  
> **Macbeth, Act V, Sc 5


End file.
